The report ranked 100 cities based on three main pillars (People, Planet, and Profit), which are broken up further into 23 criteria including:

Air pollution

Access to multiple transport modes

Active commuting

Bike infrastructure

Greenhouse gas emissions

Public transit affordability

“With population growth increasing by 40,000 people per year, Toronto is looking to expand its subways, light rail, express rail and rapid transit systems to improve mobility,” notes the report.

Arcadis Sustainable Cities Mobility Index

New York, San Francisco, and Vancouver ranked as the top three most sustainable cities for green transport in North America. Montreal came in fourth.

The top five cities on the global ranking were Hong Kong, Zurich, Paris, Seoul and Prague.

Toronto ranked 54th. No major Canadian city placed in the top 20 spots in global rankings.

The report notes that Europe “dominates” the list.

“Of the top ten places, seven are taken by European cities. Many of these European cities benefit from established and well-used metro networks such as London’s Underground, strong bicycle infrastructure in cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, and high shares of commuters using public rather than private transport,” states the report.

“European cities are also environmentally conscious, with incentives to lower emissions reflected in cleaner air and greener mobility systems.”